Rpi Ratings Like Mac Teams A Lot
The RPI rankings, numbers quoted more than stock prices as the NCAA Tournament approaches, made their debut for the 1995-96 season this week. As usual, there were some big surprises.
To start, how about Eastern Michigan being No. 6? That’s not sixth in the Mid-American Conference, but sixth in the country - behind only Massachusetts, Syracuse, Arizona, Kentucky and North Carolina.
The MAC also had Miami of Ohio at No. 15, yet was 10th in the conference rankings.
The rest of the Top Ten was Villanova, Kansas, Cincinnati and Wake Forest.
For those who read the last page of a book first, Nos. 300-305 were Navy, Troy State, Army, Hofstra, Air Force and Alabama State.
The No. 1 conference ranking went to the Atlantic Coast Conference, with the Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and Conference USA rounding out the top five.
The numbers will change dramatically over the next few weeks as conference play continues and computer points for early season wins start to fade.
Still, three of last season’s Final Four - UCLA, Arkansas and North Carolina - were in the Top Ten in the opening RPI last January, with Oklahoma State the odd team out at No. 63.
Western Kentucky is ranked 63rd this time.
Old Cardinal
Stanford’s 7-foot-1 sophomore center Tim Young is out indefinitely with a bulging disc in his back and his backup, 6-10 freshman Andy McClelland, is out with an injured knee.
Three Stanford starters - forwards Andy Poppink and Darren Allaway and point guard Brevin Knight - have been bothered by back problems and a fourth, forward David Harbour, is getting over a sprained ankle.
Still, coach Mike Montgomery has been able to keep his sense of humor.
“It’s been like practicing with a 50-and-older team,” he said.
Sharp eye
Tyson Wheeler played well at the Rainbow Classic, earning all-tournament honors as Rhode Island finished third, its only loss coming against No. 11 Syracuse in the semi. Wheeler had 20 points and 10 assists in the third-place game against Southern California, including a three-quarter-court heave at halftime. It’s hard to imagine what he would have done with both eyes focused.
“I lost my contact and I had to get used to it,” the 5-10 sophomore said. “I went to the bathroom and I thought it was still in, but I found it on the floor all crinkled up. I had no spare so I played without it with 13 minutes left in the first half through the rest of the game.”
Just one game
Brian Jackson of Evansville led the nation in 3-point accuracy last season, hitting 53 of 95 from beyond the arc (55.8 percent). He won’t get a chance to defend that title; in fact, he won’t get to play college basketball again.
Jackson, who played two seasons at Butler County (Kan.) Community College, broke his right leg in practice last week diving for a loose ball and will miss the rest of the season. The Purple Aces’ leading scorer this season at 13.4 points per game, Jackson played in seven games, one more than allowed for a player to be granted a medical redshirt.
Tasty team
Every year Dan Lynch, the former baseball coach at St. Francis, N.Y., puts together an all-name almanac for college basketball. The theme teams are always the best, and this year it’s an all-menu team.
Alabama’s Marvin Orange is the appetizer as fruit slices. The entrees are Arizona State’s Jeremy Veal, Florida’s Brian Lamb and California’s Randy Duck. The condiments come from Florida State’s Avery Curry, Houston’s Kenya Capers and Old Dominion’s Joe Bunn. From the wine list is Oklahoma State’s Chianti Roberts.
To run things from the sideline, who else but UC Irvine’s Rod Baker?